Dear Potential Reviewer,

On April 16, 2013, the U.S. Department of Education and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (the Departments) announced a new Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) grant competition. The Departments are seeking qualified individuals with expertise in early learning and development to serve as peer reviewers. You are receiving this email because you have previously served as a peer reviewer or member of a technical or advisory workgroup member for one of our federally-funded early learning and development programs.  We appreciate your past commitment to early learning and development and hope that you will consider this opportunity to play a critical role in the RTT-ELC program. We are looking for individuals with extensive experience and expertise in early learning and development.

As with other Federal grant competitions, reviewers will receive an honorarium for their time and effort, contingent upon satisfactory completion of the review requirements and consistent with the required schedule. Travel costs to Washington, DC will also be covered.

If you are interested in being considered to serve as a peer reviewer for the Race to the Top – Early Learning Challenge (RTT-ELC) program, please submit the following information at http://www.mikousa.com/surveys/index.php?sid=51213&lang=en no later than 11:59 pm (EDT) on August 5, 2013:

(1) a cover letter that articulates how your knowledge and/or experiences align with each of the applicable qualifications on the checklist below;

(2) your curriculum vitae; and

(3) a 250 word biography; and

(4) the completed availability, conflict of interest, and experience questionnaire

To be considered for selection, potential peer reviewers must complete all pertinent portions of the online questionnaire to ensure that the relevant information is appropriately included for consideration by the ED-HHS Race to the Top — Early Learning Challenge team.

Please note: At the end of the review process, the names of peer reviewers will be posted on the Department of Education’s website in the aggregate. We will not post the names of the states that were reviewed by each peer reviewer.

We hope you will be interested in participating in this important work that will build strong State early learning and development systems, improve the quality of early learning and development programs, and decrease the kindergarten readiness gap for children with high needs. Additionally, if you know of other leaders in the field of early learning and development who may be interested in being considered to serve as a peer reviewer, please forward this email to them.

Program Information:

For more information about the Race to the Top-Early Learning Challenge competition, go to http://www2.ed.gov/programs/racetothetop-earlylearningchallenge/index.html. For all other questions, please contact ELCLogistics@MikoGroup.com

Thanks for your interest,
RTT-ELC team